Ponting slams bowlers

Australian captain Ricky Ponting lashed out at his bowlers for allowing New Zealand to come within eight runs of the Australian total yesterday.

“Our bowlers, in the last 30 overs of that game, were put under some pretty intense pressure and we didn’t cope as well as I would have liked,” he said after the match.

“Our lengths towards the end were all wrong … I am disappointed with the way we responded and reacted tonight, and hopefully we will improve on that when the finals come around.”

The rebuke comes as Australia continue their unbeaten streak over the summer, winning the Ashes series five-nil and not losing a game throughout the one-day tri-series.